Porcelain
by Appollo
Summary: School is out and it's time for summer. Time for friends, infatuation, experimentation and adventure. BradenXOC.
1. Chapter 1

Arlo emptied her locker into her bag and smiled to herself and she snapped it shut for the last time this year. It was the last day of school, and that meant summer was just a few short hours away, and she couldn't wait to wave goodbye to school and decided the next three months of her life to having carefree fun with her friends every day.

Just lunch, one more lesson and then she was free. Free to spend the next three months staying up late, waking up and noon and seeking about adventures for her and her friends to embark on.

She counted herself lucky that she had such adventurous and interesting friends and knew that once again, summer would be memorable and eventful. They had already made a load of plans, more than they probably needed to keep them busy all summer. They planned a road trip to Florida, though convincing their parents to let them go was still a mountainous task they hadn't yet had the guts to tackle. They'd also planned bonfires at the beach, sleepovers in Greg's back garden under the stars, swimming in the quarry and a weekend trip to the lake.

They wanted to go to concerts, go fishing, film a crappy home horror movie on hand held cameras and make the most memorable summer of their lives. But before that could begin they had one afternoon of school still left to endure.

Arlo was walking to her last lesson when Charlotte McKenzie ran to catch up with her, calling her name through the crowded corridor as she wove through bodies to get to her.

"Arlo wait!" she called as she caught her attention. The older girl stopped and turned to wait for her. Arlo was in the same grade as Charlotte's older brother Andre and had been friends with the younger girl for years, though she spent more time with Andre and his best friend Greg Feder.

"Hey" Arlo smiled as Charlotte caught up with her and they began to walk together slowly.

"Guess what" Charlotte said as she tried to bite back on a smirk that Arlo could easily see through.

Arlo couldn't help at smile at her obvious excitement "What?" she said.

Charlotte grinned broadly "Bumpty asked me out for ice cream later." She said.

"Bumpty … the only other black kid in your grade?" Arlo asked. It was no secret that in Stanton Connecticut the white population vastly outnumbered that of the black population, and Arlo thought there couldn't be any more than two dozen black kids in the entire school, and even that was high balling it "Are you gonna go?"

Charlotte nodded and grinned with excitement "well, if my parents say its okay." She shrugged.

"They should, it's only ice cream."

"Yeah but you know how my dad is" Charlotte said, giving her a look of irritation. Arlo smiled, her father Kurt was protective of his daughter, like any caring father would be.

"He'll trust you." Arlo said as she arrived at the door to her next lesson "I'll see you later Charlotte" she said, waving at her as she carried on walking.

Arlo walked inside the room and sat down with all the other students, taking a seat in front of Greg, who was as usual starring at Nancy Arbuckle with intense infatuation. Arlo looked back at Andre who was sitting behind Greg and they smirked at each other, this routine of Greg's was definitely not a new one.

As the class began to settle down Arlo turned around and shifted her attention to the front of the room, where the teacher stood with a face she didn't recognise. The boy beside Mr Deen was easily six feet tall and he was huge. Not only was he tall but he was broad, with a wide chest and shoulders. He looked like the rough and ready type, long messy blonde hair, tattoos all over his arms left exposed by sleeves forcibly torn off a plaid shirt and a look of rebellion on his face. His shirt was only buttoned half way up, leaving a muscled chest exposed.

"Alright guys" Mr Deen was saying "normally we don't have exciting news this late into the term but, we have a new student joining us today Braden Higgins" As he was directed towards a seat looks of puzzlement and recognition passed between Arlo and her friends. They knew the name Higgins, Marcus Higgins was long-time friend of their parents, but he didn't have a kid, not as far as they knew.

Greg leaned across to talk to the huge, brooding blonde "Is your dad Marcus Higgins?" he whispered.

"Yeah I've known him since I was a baby he's the funniest" Andre added.

"He's the best, great, great man." Greg finished. The boys were hoping to strike up a friendship with this newcomer, hoping their closeness with his father would earn them favour with him.

Braden turned to look at them with a stony impression "I wanna smash his face."

"Yeah me too" Andre added quickly.

"Yeah, hate that guy."

"Screw him" Andre finished before both boys turned their attention back to the room, hoping they hadn't earned themselves a beating.

Arlo chuckled quietly and shook her head at how terribly their failed attempt at offering friendship had gone. When she laughed she glanced across and saw Braden look in her direction, catching her eye. As his intense blue eyes locked onto her own she felt a slight flush fall over her and found it hard to look away from him. He held her gaze, but his expression was entirely unreadable, not changing from the same one he had kept on his face the entire time she had been in the room. He sat looking at her and after a minute or so she broke his gaze and looked away, feeling flustered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, I forgot to mention a few things when I started this so I'll do it now before I forget again. 1. I hate rewriting movie scenes, so I'm going to avoid that at all costs. 2. This is currently rated K or T, I can't remember which, but it will be changed later on to an M, as it's gonna get intense, so if you'd rather avoid that I'll warn you before hand (if I remember, no guarantee) so enjoy, thanks for reading and be kind. **

Arlo was in Greg's bedroom at the Feder house, helping him get ready for the party that night. His parents were throwing a huge first day of summer party and the theme was the eighties. They both had their costumes ready but Greg was feeling sick with nerves. He had finally built up enough courage to ask out Nancy Arbuckle, and beyond all belief she had said yes and would be at the party later. It was painfully obvious how nervous Greg was, so Arlo opted to keep him distracted by asking him about his day, which was more eventful than usual.

"A college party? You guys crashed a college party at the quarry?!" she asked, both shocked and impressed. She hadn't left school with Greg and Andre, from the sound of things she was beginning to wish she had.

"Well we didn't want to." He protested "Braden made us go, Arlo that guy is crazy! He dove off the quarry into the water and crashed their party, then he just disappeared and when we were eating dinner dad said he got arrested, he's crazy!"

Arlo laughed and shook her head "Oh don't be so pristine Greg, its summer, it's time to be getting into trouble." Greg gave her a look of disgust.

"Oh it gets worse, it really does" he closed his eyes and sighed deeply "My dad was there too with Kurt, Eric and Higgins … we saw them do the suicide 35 … naked."

Arlo froze and spun around to look at him "No .. no, tell me your lying." She said.

Greg sadly shook his head, then shivered as the memory replayed in his mind "God I wish" he muttered. She walked towards him and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder "I'm here for you Greggy, but please for the sake of my sanity spare me the details." He laughed and slapped her hand away at her mock sincerity.

"How do I look?" she asked as she stood away for him so he could take her whole costume in. She was a female beetlejuice, wearing a tight figure fitting pants suit that hugged every curve and came with a short blazer that gave her a bust Greg had never realised she had. She had used coloured hair spray to give herself green hair, which was messy and huge and added to the dead look she had started with white make up.

"Horrible, like a corpse" he said.

She smiled widey "Thanks! Now come on" she said pulling him to his feet "let's go join the fun."

…

Outside the party was in full swing. There were dozens and dozens of people there all in amazing costumes, but by far Arlo's favourite was Bean's ZZ Top outfit, complete with beard and guitar. There were drinks flowing and even a band playing and in the kitchen was a huge cake in the shape of a rubbix cube, although the school bus driver was in there in his underpants to she made sure to avoid the kitchen at all costs.

Arlo was having fun with her friends and spent most of the early evening dancing with Charlotte.

"How was your date?" she asked her.

To her surprise Charlotte cringed and laughed "Oh my god it was awful, Bumpty is such an ass." She said.

Arlo laughed too "Well at least your first awful date is other with, and you can avoid him for the summer now."

"If only, he's here with his parents." She said, nodding behind her towards where he was attempting to impress Andrew with his free styling.

"Yeah but after tonight you don't have to see him." Arlo said, giving her an encouraging nudge with her elbow "And you're free for a summer of fun with your friends."

"Single fun." Charlotte corrected her.

"You never know, you could be in for a summer romance." Arlo suggested, making Charlotte laugh and playfully slap her on the arm.

Later she was dancing with Bean and Becky when Higgins came walking over to her and beckoned her away "If you're gonna ask me to slow dance with you again Marcus I'm gonna punch you." She warned him.

He shook his head 'No, no don't be stupid, Muscles McGee would kick my ass if I did" he said glancing back at the huge female Hulk Hogan he had been dating for a few weeks.

Arlo nodded "I can see that happening" she agreed "So what's up?" she asked.

"Would you do me a favour? Would you go talk to my son? I don't know what to do with the kid, I didn't even know he existed until a week ago and he's out here all summer and he doesn't know anybody or have any friends and you're so lovely you'll make him feel comfortable." He explained with a pitiful attempt at a pleading face and flattery that made her roll her eyes.

"Where are the guys? Wouldn't he rather hang out with other guys?" she suggested.

"Well Greg's wondering around in no pants getting into that chick he's been obsessing over and I have no idea where Andre is." They both glanced around looking for him, but he was nowhere in sight "Plus look at you, you look hot as hell" he said looking her up and down, she resisted the urge to slap him "One look at you dressed like that and the kid's gonna wanna spread you on toast and eat you for his breakfast … well, if he's anything like his father he better." He added as an afterthought.

"You know, you really are a foul human being." She said "But I'll go hang out with your kid, and you owe me one!" she said as she skirted around him, picked up another drink and walked towards where Braden was standing awkwardly alone.

"Hey Braden" she said as she slowly approached him. Though he was a Higgins and she got on well with his father, he still intimidated her a little. He was absolutely huge, it was hard to ignore his impossibly wide shoulders and bulging muscles, and he had a mean look on his face, his bad side was one she knew she did not want to see.

"Uh … Hey" he said, taking the drink she held out for him. Their fingers brushed for a second and Arlo felt a rush of warmth and excitement ripple through her as they did.

"I'm Arlo, by the way." She said, standing facing him and feeling as awkward as he looked, she didn't know this guy and had no idea what to say to him.

"Arlo .. what kinda name is that?" He asked. She bit back a smirk, this was not the first and nor would it be the last time she was asked that.

"Uh my Mom, she really liked this guy Arlo Guthrie, he's a folk singer and she's really into him so she named me after him I guess. She tries to say he's actually my dad but she's full of shit." Arlo said with a smile and a shrug. Braden smiled and nodded.

"She named you after a guy? That must suck."

"Not really, I think I rock it pretty well." She joked.

Braden smiled "I like it; it's pretty … like you." He said after a moment's pause for consideration.

Arlo laughed "Oh dear, is that some of the famous Higgins charm I see emerging there?" she asked, giving him a look that suggested she was onto him. She knew his father too well too far for any lines he might have, but she also had to admit he didn't come across as much like Marcus, he had avoided her eye as he called her pretty, and she could tell he was uncomfortable and nervous when complimenting her.

The smile from Braden's face dropped in an instant and turned into an unhappy scowl and Arlo quickly realised she had spoken out of turn "I'm nothing like him, he's an asshole." He said as the scowl on his face darkened and she saw real contempt and dislike there.

"He's really not so bad you know." She said, placing a hand softly on his arm "I mean sure he can be a vulgar ass when he wants to, which is most of the time, but he's a good guy really, you should give him a chance." She said.

"I guess." He said, his expression softening, then without another word he started to walk away, Arlo watched him go confused as to what she'd said, but after a few seconds he turned back around and motioned for her to follow him. They walked to a quieter area of the garden and sat down on wooden lawn chairs.

"So, I guess you've known these guys your whole life huh?" He asked, gesturing across the garden where her friends and their families were enjoying themselves.

She nodded "Pretty much." She said.

"Well" Braden said, leaning over to her and pulling a hip flask from his pocket and unscrewing the lad "How about I make this party a little more interesting" he said pouring a generous amount of what smelt like whiskey into her drink "And you catch me up on who everyone is so." He suggested, giving her a suggestive smirk that she couldn't help but return. She nodded and sat back in her seat and began to explain who everyone he was about to spend the summer with was.


	3. Chapter 3

Arlo woke in the Feder house the morning after the party. It wasn't the first time she had stayed over at their place, her mom walked away a lot so she would often find herself sleeping in one of their spare rooms.

They were sitting around the dining table that morning eating breakfast discussing the night before. The party had descended into madness when the college kids who had been hassling Lenny and the other guys all day arrived and a mass brawl broke out across the Feder's back lawn. Arlo had never been in a fight before in her life but managed to hold her own, even if she had to be rescued more than once from Greg, Lenny and even Deanne.

After they'd eaten breakfast Greg and Arlo offered to wash up so they could talk in private away from the ears of younger siblings that dwelled on the heads that also housed loose lips.

"So … did you kiss her?" Arlo asked, cutting straight to the chase. She loved hearing about Greg's love life, he was so shy and inexperienced she loved how exciting everything was for him. She had had only a few boyfriends herself, but dating was not new to her.

Greg tried to hide a smile but failed spectacularly "She kissed me, right in the middle of the fight." He said, handing her a bowl he had just washed to be dried.

Arlo grinned and squealed with excitement, he had been crushing on Nancy for such a long time and to see him finally make progress with her was amazing "See! I told you she'd like you!" She said, putting the bowl away.

Greg was grinning like a mad man, but still trying to hide it "Yeah, I guess you were right, she wants to hang out later." He said.

"Good!" she said "I hope you told her yes."

Greg nodded and then slowly realisation dawned on him and he started to flounder, he looked up at her with eyes wide and full of terror "Shit! What am I gonna do with her? I can't be alone with her I'll screw it up!" he insisted, almost dropping the plate in his hands.

"Calm down!" Arlo snapped as she took the plate from him and put it away. "It'll be fine, if you don't think you can hang out with her alone arrange something for the group and invite her around, tell her she can bring a friend if it makes you feel better, Andre might like something pretty to look at." She suggested.

"Yeah .. yeah" he said quietly, calming down. When he'd gathered himself he turned to Arlo with a smirk on his face "I heard I'm not the only one who made a new friend last night." He said "Word on the street is you spent most of the night getting drunk with Braden." He said, giving her a suggestive look.

She glared at him "'Word on the street'? What are you, 12? But if you must know yes I did spend the night with Braden, but we didn't get drunk, there wasn't enough whiskey in that hip flask of his to get either of us drunk." She said with a tone disappointment. "Or maybe we did …. I don't know … I think I made out with him though…"

"You did what?!" Greg shouted, shocked and horrified at the same time. He knew Arlo could get a little wild sometimes but he never thought she'd get drunk with Higgins son and make out with him the day she met him.

Arlo started to laugh "Nothing I'm pulling your leg, I didn't get drunk and I definitely didn't make out with him." She said, still laughing at the look of sheer horror on his face.

"Jesus don't do that, you scared the hell out of me." He said, clutching his heart.

Arlo laughed and shook her head "I honestly don't know why you're afraid of him, he's actually a pretty nice guy you know." She said.

"You don't have a little crush do you Arlo?" Greg asked, playfully poking her in the shoulder.

"Oh shut up you." She said, slapping him with a dishcloth.

…

Arlo left the Feder's not long after breakfast and decided to walk home. It was a hot day and she loved the feel of the sun on her skin as she enjoyed the walk. She was texting her friend Emily, who also happened to be close friends with Nancy, telling her about how her night had gone when she heard someone call her name.

She turned around and saw Braden jogging towards her and smiled at him.

"Hey." He said as he stopped in front of her and the now familiar awkward look settled on his face "Are you busy?" He asked.

She shook her head "Not really, why?"

"I uh … I need some help, my dad gave me a coupla hundred bucks to go get some clothes for the summer, but I have no idea where to go." He admitted "Would you come with me?" he asked.

Arlo couldn't help but smile "Sure" she said "I'd love to, if you'll let me help pick you some stuff out." She offered.

Braded nodded "That's fair I guess."

"Cool, I just need to go home and get changed first then I'll show you where the best places to go are." She said. Braded smiled and together they walked the few remaining blocks to her house. They talked casually as they walked and Braden started to open up to her. He told her about his mom back home and how she'd always tried to give him everything. But he was a trouble maker, he swore he tried to be good but trouble had a knack of always find him no matter how hard he tried. He admitted to her that he loved the rush that came from doing something he wasn't supposed to, but he always felt torn apart by guilt whenever he saw how much it upset his mom.

He'd never known his father, but she knew that, and his mom thought he deserved to know him and so had sent him out here for the summer. He didn't know what to expect, as a child who had never met his father before he'd spent much of his youth resentful of the absent figure, and Arlo supposed that was where some of his inner anger came from, and tried once again to convince him his dad wasn't such a bad guy and deserved a chance. After all, you couldn't blame him for his neglect if he didn't even know he had a son he was neglecting.

Arlo was feeling like she'd started to form a bond with Braden when they arrived at her house and he followed her inside. No one was home, her mom wouldn't be home for another two days and so the house was empty.

He followed her upstairs and she let him into her bedroom as she picked out a fresh outfit to wear. She watched him as she did, taking in every inch of her room. He'd never been in a room like this before and he felt strangely at ease in there. Just by looking around he could tell so much about her. Her bookshelf was absolutely bursting with well-read and clearly loved books, some of them falling apart they had been read that many times. The wall beside her bed was filled with photographs of her and her friends and her window ledge was lined with empty jars and bottles filled with candles, flowers and art materials. The wall around her window was the one he found most interesting. Every inch of it was covered with drawings, there was hundreds of them layered on top of each other. She was clearly an amazing artist and she drew what looked like everything, from portraits to landscapes and even close ups of everyday objects, like a plant pot he had seen on her front porch.

Arlo watched as he crossed the room and gently took one of her drawings down to admire it. He loved it, but he couldn't explain why. It was such a simple drawing of a cat dozing in the mid afternoon sun, surrounded by flowers and sunlight. As he admired her drawing she slipped into the bathroom to change. He was still looking at the picture when she came back.

"Did you do these?" He asked as his fingers ran ever so gently over the surface of the picture.

"Yeah." She said quietly, he seemed reflective and calm, she didn't want to break that "I like to draw a lot."

"It's amazing, I love it." He said, still starring at it.

Arlo smiled "Thank you, it's one of my favourites."

"You're so talented, it's crazy." He said as he gently laid it down on her desk, which was covered in writing materials. He could see half written poems and pages and pages of ideas scattered across the desk. He saw that here was where her creative mind roamed free.

"You can keep it." She said.

He looked up at her in shock "Are you serious?!" He asked.

She nodded and smiled again "Sure, it's yours." Then she watched as he smiled to himself as he carefully folded the drawing and stored it safely inside his pocket, holding his hand over it for a second as though it were some precious stone.

"Thank you, I'll take care of it." He promised.

"Come on, let's go shopping." She said leaving the room as Braden followed behind her, looking back over his shoulder into her room, feeling as though he had been allowed to see into the depths of what made her who she was, feeling as though she had allowed him to see into somewhere incredibly special and private, feeling as though he had seem something precious and beautiful.


	4. Chapter 4

Alro took her mom's car and drove them to the nearest mall. Stanton had some shops of its own, but not enough to fill and entire wardrobe, and seeing as Roxanne Feder had the only place really worth shopping in and it was for women only she thought it'd be better to take him somewhere with a little more choice.

It was only a half an hour ride away and on the way there Arlo let Braden mess about on the radio until he found something he liked. It didn't surprise her when he settled on some heavy metal.

"So..." Arlo said as she pulled into a parking space "What kinda stuff do you wanna get?" She asked.

Braden shrugged "Uh I'm not sure, I didn't bring such stuff with me." He said as he got out of the car.

"That's cool; we'll pick you some stuff out." Arlo said as she locked the door and they walked inside. As they walked for a few minutes Braden counted the money Higgins had given him and started to think about what he wanted.

Arlo took him a few places and after almost an hour of him rejecting everything she suggested she picked him out some new jeans, tighter and better fitting than the battered ones he was already wearing and he agreed to try them on.

"I'm not sure about these…" he admitted, standing awkwardly in the changing room as Arlo peeped around the curtain.

"But they look so good! Better than those torn up baggy ass one you came in." She said. She liked the jeans on him, they were black and skinny fit and looked a ton better than his other ones.

He turned around to glare at her "There's nothing wrong with my jeans." He insisted.

"Oh sure." She said sarcastically "Sure I mean they look great if you're going for the intimidating thug look." She teased.

Braden laughed and threw another pair of jeans at her. She waited outside while he changed back into his clothes and let her talk him into buying the jeans, making him buy two pairs in black, one in grey and another in blue. Shirts proved a much easier task than jeans and Arlo let him pick out the shirts himself. He mostly went for plain t-shirts and button up plaid shirts, but he looked good in them and they went with his new jeans, so she couldn't complain, even though it did take her ten minutes to convince him to buy a grey and blue stripped sweater.

"I think you should get some new shoes." She said.

Braden frowned "Why? What's wrong with these ones?" he asked, looking down at his battered brown boots that were trailing laces behind him. Arlo said nothing but gave him a look. He smirked "Fine, I'll get some more shoes, but I'm keeping these ones." He insisted.

Arlo nodded "Okay you can keep those, but only if you let me help you pick out new ones."

Shoes didn't take long. Braden quickly found a pair of black boots he liked and was so happy with them Arlo easily talked him into buying a pair of black converse.

"You wanna get some lunch?" He asked as they were leaving the store with his new shoes.

Arlo nodded "Sure." They took his bags to the car and put them in the trunk before they went back inside and walked around until they found a sandwich stall and Braden bought them both lunch. They stood at the barrier of one of the upper levels watching the people far below them go about their business.

"Hey, watch this" Braden said after they ate in silence for a few minutes. He looked around and picked up a pebble from out of one of the large plant pots that stood either side of the doorway of the jewellery shop behind them. He cast a quick look around for a security then dropped the pebble off the side and right into the fountain below them. It caused a huge splash that soaked several people sitting around the fountain and they reeled away in shock and disgust, half of the dripping.

Arlo and Braden howled with laughter and Braden went back for another pebble and threw it this time, aiming for the other side of the fountain, sending up another wave of water and soaking more people. Angry voices started to shout up at them and from behind they heard a shout of "You two! Don't move!" as security started to walk towards them.

"Oh shit" Braden said, still laughing "Run!" He dropped his half eaten lunch and grabbed Arlo's hand as he turned and started to run, pulling her behind him. They ran at full speed, weaving through people and laughing as they heard security shouting at them as they fell behind. Braden had an impressive pace and Arlo struggled to keep up with him, but he kept hold of her hand tightly as he ran and wouldn't let her fall behind.

…..

After they had spent most of the morning shopping Arlo and Braden parted ways. He went home and she went back to the Feder's to respond to a message of sheer terror Greg had sent to her.

"Oh thank god you're here." Greg said, sighing with relief as he opened the door and pulled her in by the collar of her shirt.

"Jesus calm down." She said once he let go of her and she readjusted her shirt "What's the matter?" she asked, following him through to the kitchen.

"Nancy is coming!" he announced in a voice of sheer panic "Nancy is coming here! To my house … today!" He was frantic, pacing up and down the kitchen and looking as though he was about to pull his hair out. Arlo gave him a look of pity, he liked her so much and she could see in his face how much he wanted to impress her.

"Okay …" Arlo said slowly "And this is a problem how?"

"Because I'm a mess! I don't know what to do or how to act around her, I'm going to make a fool of myself, and what if she expects me to have planned something really amazing to do and she's gonna get here and be disappointed and she'll tell all her friends about me and they'll laugh and I'll look like a fool and she'll never wanna see me again and I'll be a laughing stock all summer and probably all next year at school too oh god why did I ask her out why did you let me I can't date a girl like Nancy this is crazy!" He stopped only to inhale air deeply which Arlo was glad for, she was sure a second more of his nonstop rambling without any paused for breath and he'd have passed out for sure.

"Greg." She said firmly "Shut up, I'll take care of it okay?"

…

Three hours later Arlo had sorted it all and Greg was much calmer than before. She'd sent him away to get ready and called Andre and Charlotte around to help her make some plans for the evening. She would've asked Keith but as he had a broken leg he was useless to her.

"You know, when Lenny sees this, he's gonna kick your ass." Andre said.

Arlo smirked and shrugged, happy with her work even if it did earn her an ass kicking "It'll be worth it." She reasoned. They had used glow in the dark spray paint to paint a huge twister board on the lawn in the back garden. She thought playing a huge game of twister with friends would be a good way for Greg and Nancy to have fun, so she'd invited some of Greg's friends and had him tell Nancy to bring a friend too.

When he finally came down half an hour later and saw what his friends had put together Greg started to calm down and was actually excited, and they were just waiting for others to arrive when Lenny came out.

"Which of you asses painted my lawn?" He asked, standing with his hands on his hips and wearing an expression somewhere between angry and impressed. Instantly Greg, Charlotte and Andre all pointed at Arlo, who put on her best smile in an attempt to avoid him roasting her.

Lenny sighed and shook his head "Damnit I hate it when you kids have ideas I wish I'd had." He said, then turned to walk back into the house calling back over his shoulder "That better still be there this weekend when the guys come around, I wanna see Higgins play drunken twister with himself."

The teens burst into laughter at his unexpected response. Their guests arrived not long after. First to arrive was Donna, who was as overly excited as usual, then Braden who impressed everyone with the new clothes his was wearing and finally Nancy and her friend Emily, who Andre took an instant liking to, much to the surprise of absolutely no one.

"I wanna play first!" Nancy announced once they told her what the plan for the evening was, making Greg beam.

"Sure, I'll play too, Arlo you wanna play?" He asked, she nodded and he smiled again "Braden? What about you?"

He shrugged "Yeah sure." He said. The others didn't complain, Donna was happy to sit with Keith and Charlotte sat with her and Andre was too busy fawning over Emily to even notice what day it was, so Greg, Nancy, Arlo and Braden started to play. It started off well, but less than ten moves in and Greg was stuck in what looked like the crab position, Nancy was almost lay on the floor and Arlo was crouched over her on all fours. Only Braden had it easy as he was still only on two feet. Greg and Nancy looked like they were having a great time and were talking and laughing amongst themselves.

"Okay Braden you're up." Keith said, spinning the wheel on the move board "Right hand blue!" he announced when it stopped moving. Arlo groaned, her whole body was between him and the row of blue circles and she was sure he'd crush her leaning over to get to one.

"No problem!" he said without hesitation. Arlo looked up at him in puzzlement just as he wrapped a huge arm around her waist and with what seemed like no effort at all lifted her up from the floor as she screamed and laughed, and flung her easily over his shoulder and he leaned forward and placed a huge hand onto one of the blue circles.

"Stop! Put me down!" Arlo shouted through her laughter "That's cheating!" she insisted, struggling against his impossibly strong grip. Braden too was laughing as he tried to keep hold of her squirming body and ignore the others shouting at him for cheating. He held on a few seconds longer until her squirming made him lose balance and they toppled to the floor, knocking Greg and Nancy down in the process.

Arlo lay on the floor laughing as Greg moaned from where he was pinned under a laughing Braden.

"Uh … I think Nancy wins." Charlotte declared. Though Nancy had also been knocked down her feet and hands where still where they were supposed to be.

"I think that means we lose." Braden said, still laughing as he got to his feet and pulled Arlo to hers, leaving the poor crushed Greg to accept the help up Nancy offered. Now their game was over they swapped around and Charlotte, Donna, Andre and Emily played. Their game went on much longer and looked like it might be heading to a stalemate between Emily and Donna when Roxanne emerged on the porch.

"Guys!" She called out "I ordered you some pizzas, come inside and eat before Becky and Lenny get at them." She said.

The game was abandoned as they raced inside to the pizza. They took it into the bigger TV room and settled down to eat and watch a movie and Arlo found herself sitting beside Braden. As she ate Arlo looked over at Greg and Nancy with a smile on her face. They were sitting close together and she could see them talking in hushed tones and smiling at each other as they enjoyed their food. She knew they'd have fun, Greg had nothing to worry about, and they looked so cute together.

They stayed inside for the rest of the evening and when it started to get late Donna and Charlotte left and then Andre offered to drive Emily home, Arlo suspected he might take the scenic route on this particular journey.

As the night wore on Keith fell asleep and Arlo saw Greg bravely make the move to kiss Nancy, though she suspected he may not have if his brother was still awake. Arlo yawned, sitting beside Braden and not long after 1am she succumbed to sleep and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.

**Oh dear readers pity me, I've dropped and broken my iPhone. Today is a sad, sad day =[. **


	5. Chapter 5

"So…" Arlo said as she sat stirring her smoothie "How are things going with Greg? You guys seem like you're getting pretty close." She was sitting across from Nancy in a small café she was a fan of. She'd asked Nancy to meet up so they could talk about Greg without the risk of him overhearing.

Nancy smiled a huge, gorgeous white smile "Oh he's so sweet, and just so much fun, you were right about him." She said, making Arlo smile. She had put in a good word for Greg knowing he had plans to finally ask her out "I love spending time with him." She said.

"I told you … I told you he was a good guy!" Arlo said.

Nancy laughed "I know I know, you were right. He's taking me out tomorrow night." She said.

"Oh is he now? Well he hasn't told me about this, where are you guys going?" Arlo asked.

"Umm the movie's I think."

Arlo smiled and felt proud; no doubt he was taking her out with his first pay check from his summer job at the ice cream place. Initially he wasn't going to ask Nancy out at all but Arlo liked to think she was one of the people that helped talk him into it.

"Well look at Greggy taking a hot girl out on a date, I feel all proud of him, like a parent." She said, holding her hand over her heart.

Nancy laughed "You certainly raised a charmer."

Arlo shrugged "I did my best and look at him now, having his first summer romance."

They sat for a few moments in silence as they drank their smoothies, then left and started to walk slowly down the high street, hoping that something in one of the shop windows might catch their eye and demand to be taken home with them.

"What about you?" Nancy asked as they were leaving a store after she'd bought a new bag that she couldn't stop looking at "Are you planning on a summer romance?"

Arlo pulled a face and shook her head "I don't think those are the kinda things you can plan, but I don't see one happening for me either way." She smiled.

"Oh? That's not what I heard." Nancy said, in a teasing voice and wearing a knowing smile.

Arlo frowned at her, suspiciously, narrowing her eyes "What have you heard?" she asked, she knew someone had been telling tales about her, now she only had to find out who so she could kick their ass when she got her hands on them, but Nancy wasn't the type to give up easily, she'd rather have some fun withholding information and dangling it in front of Arlo like she'd dangle a carrot in front of a donkey.

"Oh I don't know …" She said innocently, still wearing the same smile and loving every second of Arlo's suspicion "Little birds whisper things in my ears .. I hear a lot of things." She teased.

"Was it Greg? I'm gonna ring that little assholes neck, what's he been saying about me?" She demanded, mining strangling her friend.

Nancy laughed and gently squeezed her arm "Relax relax it wasn't Greg" she assured her, still laughing at her anger "It was actually Keith." She added.

Arlo gasped "Keith! The even littler asshole I should've known!" she exclaimed "What did he tell you?"

"Well…" Nancy said, smirking once again "It's not just what he told me, it's what he showed me too." She said with an air of mystery. Arlo looked at her utterly confused, she had no idea what Keith could have to show her that would mean Arlo was involved with anyone, which of course she wasn't and hadn't been for months, and everyone had known about that. After watching Arlo ponder for a minute Nancy put her out of her misery "He showed me a picture he took after we all fell asleep the other night. It was you and Braden asleep together; he had his arms around you." She said.

Arlo felt her cheeks burn red, she didn't remember falling asleep and when she woke up Braden was asleep on the floor and she was lay down on the sofa alone "Wh .. what? I don't … I didn't … what?! That didn't happen!" She insisted, stuttering and falling over her words.

Nancy shrugged "You must've started cuddling in your sleep and I guess he woke up and took a picture." She suggested. She had stopped teasing now; she could tell Arlo felt confused and uncomfortable.

Arlo's expression darkened with embarrassment, she hated that this was how she was finding out Braden had held her in her sleep "I didn't cuddle with Braden." She insisted ignoring the nervous fluttering feeling that had erupted in her stomach. Nancy just shrugged, then let it go.

They carried on walking down the high street and stopped once more in the second hand book store where Arlo browsed and bought herself two new books that she didn't need and didn't have the room for. As they were walking past Hermosa boutique they saw Roxanne Feder inside and waved. When Roxanne spotted them she waved for them to stop and came rushing out of the store at them "Oh Arlo, Arlo wait I have something for you!" She exclaimed as he ran towards them, scaring the life out of Arlo running like that pregnant and in towering heels.

"A lady came by this morning and left me a bunch of these fliers." She said, handing one to Arlo "It's a craft fare on Saturday it would be perfect for you, you can take some of your paintings and your jewellery and the candles you make, and you might even make some money for yourself." She said, gushing excitedly in her beautiful accent.

"This is in two days …." Arlo said. Her mind was going a mile a minute, she wanted to do it as soon as she'd seen the flier, but two days wasn't enough time to prepare, plus she didn't have nearly enough stuff to take with her. Most of her drawings were on scraps of paper she tore out of notebooks and she definitely didn't have enough of the glass jars candle holders she decorated, she gave most of them away to friends and family anyway "I don't have time, I'd need to get so much stuff ready to take with me, I don't have any frames for my drawings, and I'd need to make a bunch of new candle holders … I don't have the time or the money or-"

"Of course you do!" Roxanne insisted "You're the most talented artist I know, I know you can do it. Here" She fished around in her bag and pulled out her purse, then pulled two fifty dollar bills out and thrust them into Arlo's hand "Go get what you need and get yourself ready, I know you can do this." She said, beaming at her.

Arlo was looking down at the money in shock "Mrs Feder I can't take this." She said quietly.

Roxanne shook her head and took her by the shoulders, turning her around "Nonsense of course you can, now go get your things and stop wasting time!" she said, shoving Arlo away in the direction of the art supply store.

…

Hours later Arlo was home alone. Sitting in her living room she was surrounded by half-finished pieces of art. She and Nancy had gone on a crazy dash around shops on the high street after Roxanne had shooed them away. They went to three second hand stores where Arlo bought a bunch of old photo frames. Then they went to the art store where she bought a bunch of paper and new art materials, including some soy wax and wicks to make more candles. Then finally they went to the health food store to buy a bunch of empty glass jars. On their way back they saw a bunch of old decorative tea cups that Arlo fell in love with in the window of a charity store, so she picked those up too.

Now fully armed with everything she needed to get ready for the craft fare she had spent the rest of the day working harder than she ever had. She'd been working for hours and so far had six pictures framed and ready to go and had made a bunch of bracelets are earrings ready for sale. She'd started to melt the wax for the candles and was designing decoration for the jars they were going into. She was carefully sketching an owl on a piece of paper which she intended to burn the edges of and attach to one of the jars when there was a knock on the door.

She frowned as she stood up, everyone knew she was busy and she had expected no one wanted to disturb her, but she got up and walked to the door anyway. Opening it she found Braden standing on her front porch smiling at her, and she couldn't help but smile too.

"Hey." She said, leaving the door open and walking back into the living room while Braden followed her.

"Hey, Greg said you were working on some stuff for a craft fare this weekend, I wanted to come see if you needed any help." He said as he followed her and looked around at the living room. She had stuff everywhere. The floor was littered with half-finished pictures, finished pictured both framed and unframed, empty frames and more pens, pencils, chalks and charcoals than he could count. The coffee table had been pushed to the other side of the room and had a bunch of plastic contains sat on top of it filled with bracelets, earrings and necklaces, as well as a bigger container full of all different kinds of buttons. Music was playing somewhere quietly, though he didn't recognise the artist.

"You know, that would actually be amazing." She said, running a hand through her messy hair. He could tell she was feeling stressed.

He followed her through to the kitchen "Here" she said, handing him a plastic bag full of white flakes of something "Can you melt this down for me? Put it in a metal tin, then put that in a pan of boiling water until it's all melted please?" She asked.

Braden nodded "Sure, no problem." Arlo beamed and thanked him with a hug before going back into the living room. Braden did as she said with the flakes and then stood in the doorway watching her work while he waited for the flakes to melt. He had to smile at her. He'd thought she was beautiful since he'd met her, but there was something about seeing her completely enraptured in her work that knocked him off his feet. She looked so beautiful, her face creased with concentration, her black hair was tumbling messily down her back and she was dressed in an oversized shirt and shorts, but he thought she'd never looked better.

It amazed him that she was so talented, so creative and he was enamoured by her passion for it. He'd never had passion like that for anything, and to see it so deep within her made him envious, but full of admiration for her.

He looked back over his shoulder and saw that the flakes had now melted into a clear liquid "Arlo the flakes are melted." He said.

She looked up and smiled as she got to her feet and followed him back into the kitchen "That's great, thanks Braden." She said. She walked over to a box on the other side of the room and pulled out a bunch of different bag, each full of different coloured flakes much like the ones he'd just melted. She took out a handful of some pale blue ones and dropped them into the container with the liquid inside.

"What are they?" Braden asked as he watched over her shoulder.

"The white flakes you just melted where soy wax and these little blue ones are oil-based dye." She explained.

Braden nodded "Are you making candles?" he asked.

Arlo looked up at him and smiled "Yeah that's right. We're gonna melt all the soy wax down and use the different dyes and make different colour candles." She said.

Braden grinned "That is so cool." He said, impressed "How did you learn how to do this?" he asked.

Arlo just shrugged as she put on another pan to melt more wax "I taught myself. It's not hard, I just looked it up online and started to experiment."

"It's crazy how much stuff you can do. I wish I was talented like that." He said.

Arlo look at him "Everyone has talents Braden you just have to find them is all." She said.

An hour later Braden had melted most of the wax down and had joined Arlo in the living room, where she had taught him how to place the wick and pour the wax into the moulds. At first he had been pouring plain white wax into the tall jars Arlo had been decorating. She'd fixed a piece of people to ten different jars. Each piece of paper had been carefully burned around the edges and had something different on it. On some she had written extracts from some of her favourite books, which were stood in a messy pile under the window, and on others she had drawn a picture, there was an owl, a crown, a stags head and others. Once the glass jars had all been put aside so the wax could cool and set they moved on.

"What are we doing with the coloured wax?" Braden asked.

Arlo smiled and knowing smile "Pass me one of those tea cups and I'll show you." She said. Braden reached across and pulled one of the tea cups from the box they were in and passed it to her. He watched as she secured a wick into the bottom of it then slowly poured pale pink wax into it.

"Wow.." He said in a small, breathy voice "I never would've thought of that." He said.

"Most people wouldn't, but I really like these and they're pretty unique so I'm hoping people might be interested in them." She said.

Braden shook his head, her creative mind never failed to impress him "I think they will, it's a really good idea."

Arlo beamed "Thank you." She said "You can make some if you want to." She said. They set about pouring the wax into the cups and putting them on their matching saucers to dry, and before long they had twenty tea cup candles and twenty ordinary candles all cooling ready for the craft fare.

Arlo sat back for a moment and looked over everything she had ready so far. Whilst Braden had been pouring the other candles she'd been framing her work and she was finally happy with the amount of pieces she had ready. In totally she had forty candles and twenty framed pieces of art work. She'd gathered up all the pieces of jewellery she'd made that had been lying around and put them in containers ready for sale. She smiled, happy with that she'd managed to get done.

"I think that's enough for one day." She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. She was tired and her neck and shoulders ached so badly she just wanted to sink into a steaming hot bath to sooth them.

"You've done an amazing job." Braden told her.

She looked back at him and smiled "You have too, I couldn't have done it without your help." She said.

"Nahh, you could've easily" He said shaking his head "I probably slowed you down."

"Nope" She said "You did fantastic, you helped me out a lot, really." Braden smirked and looked away, feeling flattered "God my muscles ache." She complained, closing her eyes and rubbing her neck once again.

"Come sit down over here." Braden said, leading her back and sitting her on the floor with her back against the sofa. He said behind her on the sofa with her sitting between his legs. She felt him move her hands away and replace them with his own. She almost gasped when he laid his hands on her, his skin was wonderfully warm to the touch and she felt a tingle run down her spine when he gently pressed on her skin, putting the perfect amount of pressure on to sooth her aching muscles as he started to rub her tense shoulders.

"Oh my god that feels so good." She said with her eyes closed. Braden kept rubbing her shoulders, loosening the tense knots that had built up there.

Behind her he chuckled softly "Good, you've worked hard today, you need to relax." He said.

Arlo bit her lip and kept her eyes closed as he worked on her. His hands felt like heaven, they were huge and warm and ran over her skin smooth as honey. Her skin tingled where he touched her and she found herself wondering what it had felt like to be in his arms, wishing she could remember.

"How's that feel?" he asked quietly, his mouth near her ear.

She glanced up at him, breathing slightly deeper than usual "It feels good, you have talented hands." She said.

Braden was looking down at her, his hands still on her slender shoulders. There was tension and curiosity between them. Arlo kept her eyes on his and they started to drift closer together, entirely lost in the moment.

They paused a centimetre away from each other and Braden's eyes searched her face before her hand came up to his cheek and the gap between them closed as he leaned down and kissed her. Arlo moved, turning around and getting up on her knees, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as his hands settled on her waist as they kissed gently, more gentle than she thought possible of him.

**Readers my crisis is over. I got my phone fixed on Friday, it was broken less than a day and it was still awful to be without it, but it's over now, we are reunited! **


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